54 User Reviews of Carnival Miracle Cruise Ship

I had a lovely vacation until the very last night on board. We
were a bit alarmed when at about 4 am the captain made an
announcement for "all crew to abandon ship" We were only hours from
docking back in New York City and all of us passengers thought that
this was a terrorist attack for sure. The captain later explained
that it was a prank- that some kids had somehow gotten into the
dining room to make the announcement. Carnival apologized, but
didn't take any of the blame. They explained in a letter to myself
that "at no time was the security on board the vessel breached nor
were unauthorized personnel granted access to the ship's
navigational bridge.

" Well, I think that if teenagers could get into the dining area
and use the Public Address system to scare the entire ship, there
are some major security issues and that they should take some
responsibility here! I will never cruise Carnival again, because
they know nothing about customer service. I thought that my family
and myself were going to die that night, and all that Carnival sent
me was an

"I'm sorry but Carnival did everything right" letter...Might be the
most popular cruise line in the world, but it's definitely not the
safest!

Our sailing was on July 24 from New York City. Embarkation was a
breeze. After waiting about 5 minutes in line and then going
through a metal detector, we went to a priority check-in for
Skipper's Club (i.e., those who book Cat. 11 or 12). We were on the
ship by 12:30 p.m.

Accommodations

We were in Suite 6197. At first we were a bit disappointed with
the size of the room. I expected it to be quite luxurious. When we
looked at the regular balcony cabins later, as a comparison, I was
thankful that we decided to book the suite, and I would do it
again. There was so much closet space and drawer space that we
didn't even use all of it. I like the idea of a separate dressing
area and two sinks in the bathroom. The tub was a Jacuzzi, which my
husband thoroughly enjoyed. There was also a bar with every kind of
glass you could imagine. There were too many mirrors, however -- I
really didn't need to see myself at so many angles, especially at
the end of the cruise!

Service

Our cabin stewardess, Linda, was

the best I ever had on any cruise. She was efficient, friendly, and
accommodating. She told us that she was responsible for 15 cabins.
We tipped her at the beginning of the cruise and again at the end,
in addition to the suggested amount placed on the sail-and-sign
card. I spent quite a bit of time in the casino so I got to know
the host, Kgosi. He is a fine young man who even made losing fun.
(So I guess I had lots of fun.) Mark Hawkins, the cruise director,
does take some getting used to, but I found him to be extremely
helpful and warm. The wait staff, bar staff, and all the assistant
cruise directors were very good. I only had one negative reaction,
and that was with the shore excursion host. He was bordering on
rude and was not at all helpful. We just wanted a simple question
answered, and he was useless.

Food

I admit it; I am a foodie. I was a bit disappointed in the
quality and quantity of the food in the main dining room. Sure, you
could have extras of anything on the menu, but some evenings the
choices were not that great. Our waiter always said he would bring
more of anything we wanted; or if we didn't like something, he
would bring something else. Especially disappointing were the
desserts - no comparison to Celebrity Cruises. We did go to Nick
and Nora's on the second formal night, and it was wonderful. We met
a couple who had eaten there four nights. Food at the buffet was
good. I especially liked the grill choices and quality. The tables
were cleared often, and we never had difficulty finding a place to
sit except for breakfast on busy days.

Activities

They were varied and plentiful when we were at sea (my favorite
days). My suggestion would be to repeat some of the activities
between 5 and 7. The late seating dinner guests could take
advantage of them during that time. Also, why not repeat some of
the tours on port days? Not everyone on the ship wants to go to
Disney World.

Ports

We didn't choose this ship because of the ports. Port Canaveral
was a waste of time for us -- we never even got off the ship. We
have been to Florida many times, so we took advantage of the lack
of children on the ship that day.

In Nassau, we toured Atlantis, which is a fantastic property.
The shops in town only were open until 5 p.m., so you could not
comfortably do an excursion and then shop. Freeport/Lucaya is
beautiful. There is a great beach at the Sheraton. Again, we docked
early, but the shops did not open until 10 a.m. We had to be back
on the ship by 12:30. There is a casino by the Sheraton which was
fun.

Pools

I am not really a sun worshipper, but those who were said that
the pools were too small for the number of people on the ship. The
one day that we did try to use the adult pool, other than while in
port, it was so crowded that I had to wait for a spot to stand. My
husband had to go to the infirmary because he got water from the
pool in his eyes, and had trouble with burning and blurred vision.
He was charged $14 for eye drops.

Debarkation

We did self-assist, where you carry your own bags off the ship,
and you do not have to put them out the night before. This was
great. It was a very orderly debarkation, even considering being
awakened at 4 a.m.

General comments

Carnival has come a long way since we sailed on the Celebration
20 years ago. The Miracle is a beautiful ship, and sometimes we
felt as if we were on a very elegant line. Sailing from New York
was great, and we met lots of nice people. The kids on the ship
were mostly well behaved. There are always those few who travel in
packs and spoil the fun for the adults. I see no reason for
children to be at an adult, R-rated comedy show, or running around
the ship at 2 a.m.

All in all we had a good time, but I would reconsider taking a
Carnival ship again. Great for families, so I guess next time we'll
give Princess or NCL a try.

Just off Carnival Miracle today. This had to be the best cruise
I have ever taken. The only thing that could have made it better
was if my husband and son came with me. I sailed with a friend and
other family members because my husband doesn't care for
cruising.

Embarking: Arrived at the pier in NYC which was about a 45
minute drive from my house around 11:30 AM. This was a disaster. It
was not a pleasant experience. There were 4 ships leaving that same
day. The Miracle the Victory, Celebrity and The Queen Mary 2. I am
not sure if the Queen Mary 2 was what made it so crowded. The
people from the previous cruise June 12-19 were still getting off
the ship after 1:00 pm on the Miracle so obviously we did not board
until 2:00 PM. Once we were on line to board it moved quickly
thankfully. At this point it was pretty painless. I guess the
waiting and crowds made it very unpleasant. Once upon the ship we
went directly to our cabin Empress Deck 6150. The cabin was large
and plently enough room

for the two of us. Plently of storage space. We booked an 8A Gty
and were in an 8D Empress Balcony cabin. I would never go back to
having no balcony again I absolutely loved it. There was 2 soft
terry robes and a basket of goodies...tylenol, shavers, rolaids,
shampoo, conditioner and lotion. There is also 2 dispensers in the
shower for soap (leaver 2000) and shampoo. There was also a blow
dryer in the cabin. Met our room steward her name was Felecia.

She was very pleasant and always had a smile on her face. We
gave her $20 on the first day and told her it was in addition to
our tip on the sail and sign card. We also gave her another $20
half way through the cruise. She was worth it. We were expecting to
meet my sister in law, her hubby and two daughters (15 and 18).
They didn't arrive to the ship until around 2:00 and they said
their wait to get on was very very bad. Shortly after we were in
our cabin we went up to the Lido deck for lunch. The lunch buffet
was great. No complaints at all. The corned beef sandwich was
incredible. I think I ate them about times throughout the cruise.
Surprisingly we were not bombarded with drink specials like my
previous cruise. Because of the late debarkmentation of the
previous cruise it put us behind and we did not leave port until
around 5:45 pm. We were supposed to leave at 4:00. We had the late
dinner seating on the first level (deck 2). This was different than
other ships I have been on. There is usually 2 dining rooms one at
each end. I think this was better. Our headwaiters name was Ben and
his assistant Martina. Those two were the bomb. I could not have
had better service. Even the bar waitress for our table was the
best I ever had. On the 2nd night she had my drink waiting for me
at the table. Ben our waiter remembered that I liked the end cut of
beef. I had asked for that one night with prime rib and another
night there was Chateau Briannn (spelling??) and I did not ask but
he brought it to me. This team made my dining experience a
pleasure. The food was wonderful. No complaints at all. If we
wanted 2 entrees we had it. Anything we wanted we received. Ken the
Maitre'd was the best I have ever seen. He sang a song every night
which I never even heard of a maitre'd singing. On previous cruises
I sometimes never even knew who the maitre'd was. We had a table
for 6 at the very back of the ship at the window PERFECT!!! Never
made it to the midnight buffet because of the late dinner
seating.

On to the Cruise Director. Tod. What can I say expect
PERFECTION. He was personable, funny, entertaining, energenic and
not to mention very nice to look at. He kind of reminds me of Ryan
Seacrest from American Idol. This man truly loves his job and u can
tell.

Shows.....comedians nightly. Very funny. We went to the late
adult shows. They had the comedians also do the earlier shows for
familys. Hypnotist Show was hysterical. My sister-in-law was
hypnotized and this made it extremely funny for me. The best show
was Ticket to Ride a tribute to the beatles DO NOT MISS THIS. Great
show.

Casino....I did spend a lot of time in the casino. Jill the
Casino host was unbelievable. She even bought me drinks on several
occassions which I had heard from other posters did not happen.
Untrue. If they see u playing they do pamper u with perks. I used
the sail and sign card for the slot machines and received points. I
got the points up to over 10,000 and on my next cruise I will be
able to book my cruise directly though a special players
package.

Ports.....Port Canaveral YUK YUK YUK I had no interest in even
getting off the ship at this one so opted to stay on the ship and
sit at the pool while most guests left and made the pools very nice
without all the kids. Nassau...we had a comp room at the
Atlantis...AWESOME....having this room enabled us to swim in the
lagoon, walk through the Dig, use the pools and slides have lunch
for free and use a beautiful room to rest and change and even
shower. Freeport....didn't get off the ship at this port either.
This was the day I decided to sleep in late. We were only in port
from 7Am until 1PM. I did not care for this itinerary. could have
spent more time in Nassau and did away with Port Canaveral. Days at
sea were great. Plently of activities. There was 900 kids on this
cruise but I think camp carnival did a great job in keeping them
occupied. There was an incident that I saw that was....a boy around
10 years old in the bar connected to the casino....sitting at the
slot machine at the bar playing...the bartender did nothing. I
think we embarrassed the grandmother talking loudly how wrong it
was what she was letting him do.

Debarking: Chose the self help option on leaving the ship. We
were off in 45 minutes. They let us wait in our cabins until we
were called unlike any other cruise I had taken. They always made
us wait in one of the show rooms. Not the case here. Great
debarking this way.

This ship and cruise was perfect. I had an extremely wonderful
time and can't wait until my next cruise. People will always have
something to complain about. I don't like the pink lights the
carpet needs cleaning etc. To hell with all that over look those
things if they exist. I have nothing to complain about. I went on
vacation to have a good time and that is exactly what I did.

I have copies of most of the capers and I can email them once I
scan them in.

Four days back from our cruise and I am still felling relaxed!
Would I say that it was the best vacation I ever took? No. But, I
am an amusement park junky. As for relaxation and time away from
your kids. Then cruising is the way to go. We have never been on a
cruise before so I don't really have anything to compare this
cruise ship to. I can only compare the overall vacation. As for
embarking, things went very smooth. We were having lunch within an
hour of arriving at the terminal. The staff was very nice all
around. The entertainment was nice enough. The music a little too
retro for my taste. The food overall left a little to be desired.
My husband said I'm to used to ethnic food (I'm black and
spanish).

I was dieing for some rice and peas.LOL!!! What I enjoyed the
most was the kid carnival. The staff was awesome. My kids never
wanted to leave. Not even for shore excursions.(except disney) I
would recommend this cruise to any couple that needs couple time.
My husband and I were able to have so

much together time. We could run away to our cabin in the middle of
the day or have a quiet dinner together or party into the night. It
was great. After ten they charge a small fee. Nothing to complain
about.Overall I really did enjoy this cruise.

We are still in mourning over the end of our Fabulous experience
on the Miracle this past May! We are in the process of looking into
our next Carnival cruise for next spring, but we heard they may not
be leaving out of Baltimore in 2005 *sigh*It was very organized
& oh so convenient for us. I don't know which Todd the other
reviwers met, but our cruise director was Awesome! He is 75% of the
reason we had such a blast. We did the pub crawl, went to all the
comedy shows & The Beatles Tribute, we had a blast at the late
night deck parties & always, no matter the time, Todd was at
his best. He & Tim, the Asst. remembered our names, always made
us feel like we were special guests.I can't say enough wonderful
things about him. The casino was great fun, the food was very good,
the service was above par, the balcony room was wonderful.

We had fun at Key West, the corny tour was entertaining, we
snorkeled in Nassau, it was great, we didnt get off the ship in
Freeport, it looked

boring. The weather was perfection, the other passengers seemed to
be having as much fun as we did. Loved the midnight "goodbye" song
to our sister ship when we departed before they did--we had a
million laughs on this cruise. Will be cruise Carnival again? Even
if they dont leave from Balto. in 2005? You Bet! Todd is now on
Alaska itinerary, if we had the courage to fly there, we would join
his trip again, without a doubt! He is very entertaining &
obviously loves his job. As usual, Carnival was 1st class all the
way. The ship is gorgeous, we had too much fun to notice "pink
grapes" in the dining room. Who cares, the food was great, the
staff were "right on" and we loved it!

My husband and I sailed on the final Carnival Miracle cruise out
of Jacksonville. What a blast! 6 days of fun and sun and, of
course, food! Great ship, excellent service, and a super crew!
Todd, the cruise director, is a riot!

Ship and Amenities - Excellent! The layout was great and we had
plenty of places to go and hang out, have a drink, or play. Really
enjoyed the balcony of our stateroom, the adult-only pool and spa,
and Horatio's restaurant/Lido deck. Ladies, a warning! Do be
careful about what you wear to Nick and Nora's supper club and
which entrance you use! There is a clear staircase inside the ship
over the main atrium that leads up to the restaurant, and if you
wear a dress or skirt, you could be giving some folks around the
area and in the glass elevators a free show!

Activities - Lots of them, except for the final day of the
cruise in Freeport, when we really could have used ship-board
activities or a planned excursion! I wish some of the times for the
games and shows were spread out a little more

and would better accommodate the late dining guests, but we got in
a good share of onboard activities nevertheless (see below). Todd
Wittmer, the cruise director, was very entertaining and did a great
job at getting people involved and making sure they had a good
time.

Ports - Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Freeport. So many excursions in
Cozumel, it was hard to decide. We did an ATV tour (four-wheeled
bike) and had a blast! Explored the Chochoben ruins in Cosa Maya -
very interesting. Freeport was a bust. We didn't book an excursion
(regretfully!) and wound up taking a very expensive taxi to a
tourist trap shopping area, Port Lucaya. Came back to the ship
early and just hung out by the pool and caught up on some Z's.

Food - Very plentiful, but on the whole, only mediocre as far as
flavor. (I was writing a newspaper review on cruise cuisine, so I
made sure to try out as much as possible!) It's conceivable that
the food was only average because of it being the last cruise from
this port (why that would make a difference, I don't know), or that
it was just a fluke, but there was not much to rave about. I will
say that the self-serve of Horatio's was much better than the main
dining room cuisine, possibly because Horatio's was fresher? In any
case, the best food I sampled was the calzone in the 24-hour
pizzaria, the sushi bar outside McGuire's, and the spread at the
midnight gala buffet the last formal night of the cruise. We did
not opt for Nick and Nora's because of food allergies, but the
aromas coming from the restaurant smelled wonderful!

Shows - Attended both vegas-style shows, "Generations" and
"Ticket to Ride" on the formal nights. "Generations" was
entertaining enough, but I was distracted both by two things:
First, the guy who sat next to me, then took off his shoes to
display his nasty, funky feet, (we later referred to him as "Tofu
Guy"); and second, by the fact that I was dying of thirst and it
took two servers 30 minutes to bring me a glass of ice water.
"Ticket to Ride" lived up to all the previous guest reviews I read.
It was excellent. Also attended the Talent Show, Mexican Folkloric
show, and both comedy acts.

The first adult comedy act was packed and featured Mike Panzeca.
He was funny, but I expected more than a 25-30 minute show.

The second comedy show had to be improvised (literally), as the
scheduled comedian had a family emergency and didn't board the
ship. So the cruise director got some of the staff together, and
they did a sort of "Who's Line is it Anyway" show. It was such a
blast! I had tears streaming down my face from laughing so
hard!

I really fell in love with the Miracle as it is a beautiful
ship! I can't wait to say "hello" again when she returns to Jax for
Superbowl 2005.

Embarking: It was a breeze. We arrived at the port around 11:30.
There were no lines at sign in. Very organized. They let us on at
12:15. We were having lunch on Lido deck by 12:45.

Room/Stewardess: Our room was on the Riviera deck , cabin #1184
outside stateroom. Our room stewardess' name was Delia. She was
very efficient, friendly and left towel animals for us every
night.

Food: Lido deck buffet was ver good. Bacchus Dining room: We
also had a great meals, the best I've experienced so far.

Wait staff: We were seated at table #148. We lucked out getting
this table. It was at the back of the dining room, right in front
of a window. Our wait team was awesome....Nimesh from India and
Katarina from Slovokia. They were always on their toes. The first
night my daughter asked for a hot chocolate and every night
thereafter they would bring her hot chocolate after dinner. They
even did "tricks", which our children got a kick out of. We were
usually the last ones to leave the dining room and they never made
us feel rushed.

Ship decor: I did not

think it was over done. I've read many negative reviews about the
dining room decor...personally it didn't bother me.

Shows: We did see "Generations" and "Ticket to Ride". I didn't
care for either show, but my husband, sister-in-law and her husband
all enjoyed them and thought they were really good. I thought Karl
with a "k" was very entertaining. The comedian was also funny
(can't remember his name).

Ports of Call: We didn't choose this ship for it's itinerary, we
chose it because it was a brand new ship and my husband previously
won win a cruise bingo on our Fascination cruise last year. We
thought it was more important to sail a brand new ship. Anyway, we
were supposed to stop in Key West, however due to strong winds and
rough seas the captain was unable to dock after 2 attempts. So it
was another sea day for us and he added Freeport on at the end. Our
second scheduled port was Nassau. We did some shopping on Bay
Street, had lunch on the ship, then grabbed a taxi and headed out
for Cable Beach and had a relaxing time and the kids enjoyed
playing in the water and on the beach. Freeport: We chose to do a
little shopping at the straw market. Then we went back to the ship
for lunch and relaxed on Lido deck while our daughter was at Camp
Carnival. My sister-in-law, husband and son chose to go snorkeling.
They really enjoyed it.

Camp Carnival: Our 5 year old loved it. My 11 year old nephew
also enjoyed it (especially the scavenger hunts). I thought it was
very well organized. The room was always clean, just wish it was a
little more "open" and "airy"....kind of small and closed in but
the children always appeared to be having a great time. I also
thought that the age range 2-5 was too broad. I think they should
put the 5 year olds in 5-8 or 5-7 age group.

Disembarking: I found it to be very organized. We had a noon
flight. We were let off the ship at 9:00 and were at the airport by
9:40. We did not do the self disembark. We did it the traditional
way - leave your bags out the night before. Grabbed our bags on the
way out, waited about 5 minutes to go through Customs and were on
our way back to the airport.

This was our third Carnival cruise. Our previous cruises were on
the Ecstasy in 1992 and the Fascination in 2003. I would definetly
take another cruise with Carnival and have no desire to change
cruise lines at this time, as we have always had positive
experiences with Carnival.

We (hubby and I) arrived late to the port at almost 3:00 after
some major flight detour troubles. Our air was not booked by the
cruiselines so this was not their fault. Anyway, we arrived
frazzled and stressed out by just nearly not making the cruise and
we were pleasantly surprised at how organized and quick the
embarkation process was. There were lots of employees leading you
in the right direction and they all knew just what they were
doing.

The ship iteself is fantastic. I have heard reports of it being
overdone, but for a cruise ship, I thought it was perfect. I would
have been disappointed if it was all soft and pastel. It was very
bright and brass and bold. We loved it.

The food was plentiful, hot and good. I cannot imagine someone
not being able to find something they loved at all the various
buffets (taste of the nations) grill, pizzaria (with garlic bread
and ceasar salad) vegetable and fruit areas, dessert buffet and
salad areas not to mention the dining room. There was choice galore
in respect to food. We didn't even want to have lunch

in the dining room because there was so many things we wanted to
try at the buffet. The 24 hr. ice cream and frozen yogurt was
awesome too.

We had dinner in Nick and Nora's supper club the first night and
the meal was outstanding. We had shrimp cocktail, lobster bisque,
broiled lobster tail (huge) with other side dishes ( a medley of
sauteed mushrooms and baked potatoe) and wonderful dessert. They
also brought us a champagne and cream drink each (compliments of
the chef) along with the odd little tidbit to try, compliments of
the chef, the bread selection before the meal was great, pesto
bread, foccocia, bread sticks, all fresh and warm with a selection
of butters such as regular, paprika and garlic and herb butter.
After dessert we were brought a tray (again unordered and
compliments of the chef) of chocolate covered strawberries,
chocolate bark with nuts, truffles and a few other delicacies. To
die for. This meal was fabulous, from the service, to the beautiful
presentation to the perfectly done lobster and the best lobster
bisque I have ever had. This restaurant in my opinion is a huge
bargain at $25 pp. We left our server $25 tip because she made it
such a wonderfully romantic dinner for us. Plus she came over and
removed the lobster from the shell for us. lol

I can't really say too much about Freeport because we went to
Xanadu Beach Resort where we went on a boat and my husband did the
dive with the sharks. He said it was super. It was one of the
highlights of the trip for him. We have the video and it is great.
Lots of sharks within a foot of him. A real thrill.

I felt the shows were really good. We saw Generations which was
good but the "Ticket to Ride" was fantastic. A high energy show
with lots of extras. It definitely was a do not miss. The comedian
was hilarious on the Sunday night. We laughed like crazy. The Not
so Newly wed games was a hoot too. Great fun.

Debarking was easy since it was self assist. Now being a
Canadian, I was told on these forums that I would not be able to
self assist. ANYBODY can self assist as long as you can carry your
own bags. We had and 11:04 am flight home and were at the airport
before 9:20, no problems.

Now for my overall general comments. The staff were very
friendly, any time I passed one they would say "good day ma'am, or
hello or how are you" I felt that 90 % of the staff were very
friendly and that the ones that weren't smiling or laughing were
just concentrating on their job. I felt service was great. Our room
steward was effieicent and unobtrusive. Our ice was always full,
room clean etc..

This was our first cruise but I must say, that anyone who says
they were bored, or that there wasn't much selection for food, must
be from a different kind of life than I have. There was tons of
good food and activities and things to do constantly. You could be
on the go all day or just lay around the pool all day, it's totally
up to you. We went with an open mind because I didn't want to be
disappointed, but I must say, I LOVED it, we're hooked and to avoid
the dreaded Post Cruise Depression, we're booking another cruise
for this fall.

Will we cruise with Carnival again, ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!! Now I
know why they're called the fun ships. Don't get me wrong, we're
not partiers and in fact only had 2 alcoholic drinks each (which
are very strong, they don't scimp on booze that's for sure) But it
was just lots of good ole fashioned fun and we enjoyed ourselves
completely. We went with good attitudes and weren't going to let
any little thing ruin this vacation for us, but we didn't really
have to worry anyway, everthing was organized and fantastic.

Carnival Miracle gets a huge thumbs up from us.

If anybody has any specific questions, just e-mail me, I'm glad
to answer any questions.

My wife and I just returned from our second cruise, a short
three-day hop from Jacksonville to Freeport/Lucaya, Bahamas, and
had a great time. This trip was our first on Carnival and "the
newest cruise ship in the world", and the experience certainly was
memorable. We previously sailed Royal Caribbean; however, we didn't
take this Carnival cruise to make comparisons to RCCL, so we won't
now either.

We traveled with friends (a couple celebrating their twentieth
anniversary and taking their first cruise) and drove down from
Atlanta the evening before our departure. Between us, we left seven
children behind with our extended families; yee-haw! Embarkation
was a breeze, with only 30 minutes interval between arrival at the
port (there is road construction in process) and lunch on the Lido
deck at 1pm.

Our friends took advantage of an early "balcony guarantee" room
rate and were very pleased with their cabin. We wanted to have an
aft-facing cabin and therefore paid a little extra to lock in our
room. And we felt well-rewarded, as it was just terrific: Panorama
deck eight accommodations (#8272 - category 8I), 50% larger balcony
(at least), and just steps to

the casual Horatio's Restaurant and the "adults-only" pool just one
floor above. (Carnival staffers were even seen asking children to
leave the pool on our sea day!) The extra balcony space was
especially nice for entertaining our friends in the evenings, and
many a "Bon Voyage" was heard. Our room was well-appointed and
comfortable, and the bathroom layout really sharp. The only issue
with our room was some periodic and unwanted vibration from the
ship's engines; whether this is a ship-design issue or cabin
location issue, I couldn't say.

Regarding the ship's interior design, the oft-maligned Carnival
reputation for excessive and tasteless glitz may no longer be
well-deserved. Except for some rather odd lighting fixtures and
accessories in the main atrium, the overall look and ambiance of
the ship was well-regarded (assuming one excludes the Bacchus
dining room that looks, for lack of a better description, like a
radioactive grape vine on steroids!). The ship's layout was easily
grasped, the walkways never crowded, and the atmosphere relaxed.
Wandering about and experiencing each of the ship's many venues was
always an enjoyable experience.

As for the Bahamas, Freeport is not soft on the eyes, if you
don't already know that; the container ships and cement plant do
juxtapose nicely in color, sound, and texture, but all in all
you're better off in most other ports (maybe all of them) if you're
looking for a nice view. But we didn't take this cruise for the
port. And by the way, Lucaya is a fun place to spend a few hours;
shopping is varied with good selection, the casino energetic and
busy, the beach pleasant, the straw market just normal, the
tropical atmosphere omnipresent. The Rum Runners bar was packed at
noon, the diamond and emerald exchange likewise humming along..

Back on board, our entertainment experiences were limited
largely to the higher-energy shows, all of which were solid. The
main theatre Vegas-style shows were entertaining, Music Unlimited
provided thumping dance and rock music throughout the cruise, and
the outdoor reggae band was (or course) jammin' late into the
night. At all times the orchestra was tight, although the dancing
and singing a little less so. Show production values, particularly
the lighting and choreography, were top-notch and made each of the
main shows outstanding, particularly the Beatles' tribute show.
Cruise director Todd Wittmer was satisfactory, the games and
activities about par for the course. Mike Panceni is a good
comedian; the other comic act (her name escapes me) is not.

Food was reliable throughout the cruise though not remarkable,
both in the formal dining room (dinner every night, breakfast once)
and in the ever-open Horatio's. Choices were always plentiful,
although I thought the quality and choices in green salads and
fresh fruit below par. Presentation in the dining room was
consistently good, and the mandatory (at least for Carnival) second
lobster tail entrée was served just as enthusiastically as
the first. Service in the dining room was such that we never
considered Nick & Nora's, the reservations-only alternative
restaurant. Indeed, all forms of service were good throughout the
cruise, although somebody should do something about those ice
buckets. (They're tiny! Go ahead and bring your own cooler; after
all it's the "Fun Ship", right?) By the way, the crew appeared to
be predominantly eastern European, of all things.

On the evening of our return to Jacksonville, a huge storm blew
in. As we watched from our balcony and via closed-circuit TV, the
crew navigated wildly to avoid the mushrooming storm, and
zig-zagged across the Florida Gulf Stream in an effort to keep the
ship dry; ultimately the ship was so dangerously close to the coast
that they might have to close the casino, so the captain chose to
brave the elements and plunged headlong into the storm, causing my
wife to lose her dinner. Ten years from now, we'll have forgotten
some of the pleasantries we enjoyed this weekend, but we'll never
forget that wild joyride the last night..

Debarkation was rather slow; Carnival's new policy (allowing
passengers carrying all their luggage to disembark first) might be
good on many cruises, but resulted in excessive crowding in the
main areas on this three-day itinerary. It's also possible that the
problem was with U.S. Customs, though. Whatever the cause of the
delays, people-watching at debarkation is always a hoot; come early
for the best seats! In summary, a great time was had by all.
Carnival and the crew of the Miracle did their jobs well, and we're
better off having gone than dared not. We can't wait to again get
the opportunity to leave our troubles (but next time, probably not
our children) behind: to gaze across the blue sea, waiting for the
next port of call, or the next adventure, or perhaps like this
weekend anticipating nothing at all.

We just got back from the Miracle yesterday. There were two of
us (both teachers on our Spring Break)and this was our first
cruise.

My review of the Miracle is a little different from the ones I
have read. I would start by saying that I would recommend this ship
to everyone! We will DEFINATELY sail on the Miracle again!

1) Embarkation: Embarkation was very organized and quick! We
arrived at the pier at around 1:00. Unfortunately they were a
little backed up and we had to wait in the parking lot for about 30
minutes. Upon being dropped off, we were greeted by a very friendly
porter who took our luggage and then guided us where to go. The
line was extremely long, but went quickly. We were in our stateroom
by 2:00 and drinking our first drink by 2:15!! We went back to our
room around 3:oo and our luggage had already arrived.

2) Cabin: We received an upgrade and were fortunate enough to be
on the 8th floor with a balcony. The room was very spacious (plenty
of storage space). We were greeted immediately by our room steward.
His

name was Jose and he was completely amazing the entire trip! It
seemed as if he were there everytime we needed him. The room was
kept immaculate (which was difficult to do when you have two women
in their 20's staying together...LOL)

3) Dinner: We ate dinner each night (except Cozumel night) in
the dining room. I thought the dining room was very well done. It
was absolutely beautiful! We had a waiter the first night who was
not very good. He didn't make eye contact one time that evening.
Luckily, a family asked us if we would switch with them. We got the
better end of the deal. We ended up with an amazing waiter (and
very cute!). His name was Ben and he went out of his way to make
our evenings enjoyable. The maitre' de (Ken) was very friendly and
came by our table quite often. He also sang beautifully! The food
was dynamite! I have never eaten so well in my life!

3) Entertainment: The entertainment was amazing! I loved
listening and singing along to Cam playing piano in Sam's Club. The
disco had all the best dance music. The DJ (Bill) was very friendly
and really rocked! The band who played in Frankie and Johnnie's was
excellent. My only complaint about the nightlife was the excessive
number of teenagers that were in the clubs. I understand that they
need a place to go, but I believe Carnival should have a place on
each ship designated for them. We complained about the disco being
overrun by teenagers drinking and causing trouble....unfortunately
we received no reply. You could not get into the disco before
midnight if you were over 18, yet they could stay all night if they
wanted to.

Staff: The staff was out of this world! I have read about people
thinking the cruise director (Todd) was cheesy. I could not
disagree more. I thought he was fabulous. He was hysterical,
informative, friendly, and we had a lot of fun with him. His staff
(which included Big Tex and Karl w/ a K) and he led a "lounge
crawl" one evening. We spent about 30 mintes in each bar. That
night was terrific! These guys work on the ships for 8 months at a
time with little or no contact with their family members. Yet, they
seemed to genuinely enjoy being there and pleasing the guests. I
hope on my next cruise I meet a staff like the three of them. They
definately made this cruise one I will remember for years to come!
My recommendation would be to have more than one lounge crawl on
each cruise.

4) Shows: The shows were superb! I highly recommend the Beatles
Tribute. The singers and dancers were fantastic. (BTW, the lead
singers did not look like a mother and son pair). The skit that
Todd and his staff put on during the talent show had us laughing so
hard we thought we would die! They also did a rendition of "Whose
Line is it Anyway"....this was very good also!

5) Debarkation: We opted to put our luggage out the night
before. We knew that this would delay us getting off the ship (that
didn't really matter-we didn't want to get off). We left our cabin
at 8:30 and had our luggage in hand by 9:30. It was fast and very
efficient. We actually had to wait on our ride to come get us!
:-)

In conclusion: I would highly recommend this ship to anyone
interested in having a week full of fun! We have already begun
planning our cruise for next Spring Break...on which ship? The
Miracle of course! When you have found the best, why would you go
anywhere else??!!